Dumble
Bumblestripe paused and gave her a long look. "I was kind of hoping that what we have is more than a friendship," he mewed at last. Dovewing stared at him, not knowing what to say. To her relief, Bumblestripe didn't press her. He just ducked his head and trotted off, catching up with Blossomfall and touching his nose to her ear. Dovewing padded on; a moment later Toadstep bounded up to join her. "What's going on between you and Bumblestripe?" he asked with a little mrrow of amusement. Dovewing felt her neck fur beginning to fluff up, and forced it to lie flat. "Bumblestripe is a great cat," she replied calmly. As she spoke, an image of Tigerheart popped into her head; the gleam of amber eyes as he thrust his dark tabby head out of a clump of ferns. Resoultely she pushed it away." ''- The Forgotten Warrior, page 201. Dovewing started getting annoyed when Toadstep commented about her and Bumblestripe. If she did at least have an interest in him, she wouldn't have done that, and she had to ''force ''herself to keep calm. After that she thought of Tigerheart again before pushing it away. From all the time she spent with Bumblestripe, she still constantly thought of Tigerheart. Each time any cat brought up the fact Bumblestripe liked her, Dovewing didn't really seem too happy about it: ' ' ''' '' ''"Whitewing paused. "I was talking to Bumblestripe earlier," she remarked. "He's a nice young warrior--so polite! He likes you a lot, you know."'' ''Dovewing began to feel hot and uncomfortable in her pelt. "I know," she muttered, squirming with embarrassment. '' ''"You'll need to find a mate one day, to keep the Clan going," Whitewing pointed out.'' ''"There's plenty of time," Dovewing mewed. Will the prophecy allow me to have a mate? How can I have kits if I might be called on to save the Clan at any moment? ''An image of Tigerheart flashed into her mind, his eyes sparkling as if he was going to spring at her and roll her over into a play fight. ''Tigerheart would understand ''. . ." ''- The Forgotten Warrior, page 34-35.' When Whitewing brought up the subject of Dovewing having a mate, Dovewing instantly began thinking of Tigerheart because she knew he'd understand how she'd feel. She didn't think of Bumblestripe at all. In fact, it made her uncomfortable to be reminded he liked her! ' ' '' '' "That wasn't very kind," Cinderheart murmured. "Don't go trampling on Bumblestripe's heart. He really likes you." Dovewing wriggled, feeling her pelt grow hot with embarrassment. "No, he doesn't. . . ." she began. '' ''"Of course he does." Cinderheart sounded convinced. "You know," she mewed more seriously, "if there are no obstacles to getting to know a cat better, then you should take the oppertunity." '' ''"Does that mean that you and Lionblaze--" Dovewing broke off as Cinderheart shook her head, her blue eyes clouding with sadness. "No," she mewed. "There is an obstacle to that, but you'd never understand." '' ''Dovewing stared at her. Does Cinderheart know about Lionblaze's special power? Is that the obstacle? '' ''She opened her jaws to question Cinderheart, but the gray she-cat never gave her the chance. "Off you go after Bumblestripe," she urged. "It's not too late. He'll be so happy to see you." Though she still had misgivings, Dovewing didn't argue." - The Forgotten Warrior, page 102-103. ' Notice that Cinderheart was also forcing her to go on the walk with Bumblestripe after Dovewing said she didn't want to. Throughout their walk by the jasmine tree in The Forgotten Warrior, Dovewing was only happy about getting her powers back rather than the actual walk. She kept using them because she was so glad they returned. ' ' ''"It wasn't exactly the same as the nights as she had spent with Tigerheart--she couldn't feel her heart thumping hard enough to burst out of her chest, and her paws weren't tingling as she ran through forbidden territory--but right at that moment, she was happy to be sitting beneath the jasmine tree with Bumblestripe, and nowhere else." - ''The Forgotten Warrior, page 108. The quote mentions that she never got the same feeling with Bumblestripe as she did with Tigerheart; she preffered her nights with Tigerheart and her heart actually raced when he was with her. Just because Dovewing enjoyed her time with Bumblestripe doesn't mean she suddenly loves him. She wasn't pressured by any of her Clanmates and managed to have some time where she wasn't stressed out about anything. That doesn't mean she suddenly grew an interest in him. You don't need to love someone to enjoy their company. Later when Dovewing mentions her walk with Bumblestripe, Ivypool instantly asks if they were going to be mates. Dovewing was annoyed about it and didn't really want that: ' ' '' '' '"Nothing," she Dovewing replied. "I went down to the lake with Bumblestripe, that's all." Ivypool's eyes widened with surprise. "Oh, that's terrific!" she exclaimed. "He's really nice. Are you two going to be mates?" ''"That's the last thing on my mind!" Dovewing twitched her tail irritably. "It's just a walk. It was fun, but no big deal." '' ''Her sister gave her a poke in the side. "The two of you would have the cutest kits together!" '' ''Dovewing rolled her eyes. To distract herself from Ivypool's teasing, she extended her senses into the forest again." - ''The Forgotten Warrior, page 110. In The Last Hope when Dovewing agrees to meet with Tigerheart again, she's happy, and she even blurts out he could move to ThunderClan and they could have kits together: ' ' ''"She Dovewing only wanted to be here, now, with Tigerheart. "Next leaf-fall you might be living in ThunderClan," she whispered. The idea made her warm. "We might have kits." ''- The Last Hope, page 107. When they agreed, Dovewing was even pleased about meeting up with Tigerheart again: ' ' ''"Dovewing rubbed her muzzle along his jaw, excitement fizzing in her paws." - ''The Last Hope, page 105. "Why do you have to be so mean to him?" Rosepetal's whisper took Dovewing by surprise. "It's not a crime, you know!" "What isn't?" Rosepetal's gaze darkened meaningfully as Bumblestripe raced past them. ' '"What?" Dovewing repeated. Why did Rosepetal look so angry? ' '"It's obvious he likes you!" Rosepetal snapped. "You don't have to keep biting his head off. He's your Clanmate, not prey!" Dovewing flattened her ears. Why should she feel bad? "Why do I have to tiptoe around him just because he likes me? It's not my fault." Rosepetal looked sideways at her. "Do you enjoy hurting his feelings?" '"Of course not!" Guilt flashed under Dovewing's pelt." - The Last Hope, page 143-144. ' Dovewing even goes to act surprised he's angry at her for arguing with him. Even when she got mad at Bumblestripe for almost making her walk into a tree, Rosepetal pretty much tries getting her to apologise just because he has feelings for her. Dovewing only really agreed to be his mate because of her Clanmates guilting her to. She still clearly loved Tigerheart and the reason they broke up was because of Dovewing's feelings for him. Throughout the books, Dovewing constantly tries forcing herself to get over Tigerheart, and also uses Bumblestripe for that. Even if Bumblestripe was sweet and devoted to her, she still never felt the same for him while her Clanmates put pressure on her. Dovewing should not be with a cat she does not love. It's like AshXSquirrel; she couldn't be with someone she was going to be miserable with, except she broke it off but never chose Tigerheart as a mate. At least Dovewing realized moons later that it was wrong to lead Bumblestripe on, but what she did was still wrong. It is her fault for getting with him if she didn't understand how committed she had to be. She could have said, "Bumblestripe, I'm sorry, but I only want us to be friends" rather than crushing him.